Ron DeSantis Elon Musk interview: Launch of the campaign encounters technical difficulties

After a Twitter livestream malfunctioned, Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited debut into the 2024 presidential race was plagued by technological difficulties.

It meant that the Republican presidential primary campaign of the governor of Florida got underway 20 minutes later than planned.

He then used the occasion to promote school reforms, his anti-lockdown position, and his conservative credentials.

“I’m running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” he declared.

The Florida governor is considered the main rival for former President Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee in the general election 2024.

Mr. DeSantis was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, making him a relative newbie to US politics. After failing to become a senator, he was elected governor of Florida just six years later, in 2018.

He oversaw the passing of well-known laws that ease gun ownership, limit sex and gender identity teaching in schools, and restrict access to abortion.

He has asserted that this “Florida Blueprint” can serve as a blueprint for federal policies, moving the US firmly to the right.

He joins an expanding group of opponents hoping to defeat Mr. Trump, who now leads the Republican field by more than 30 points in national polls.

Thousands of Twitter users had deserted the service by the Wednesday night Twitter conversation got going.

Numerous engineers in charge of the site’s operations and technical debugging have been let go since Mr. Musk assumed control of Twitter in October.

The campaign team for Mr. DeSantis moved swiftly to deflect attention from the technological hiccups, tweeting that the announcement had “broken the internet with so much excitement” and attaching a link to the campaign website.

According to his press secretary Bryan Griffin, the internet fundraiser raised $1 million (£808,000) in just one hour.

After a Twitter livestream malfunctioned, Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited debut into the 2024 presidential race was plagued by technological difficulties.

It meant that the Republican presidential primary campaign of the governor of Florida got underway 20 minutes later than planned.

He then used the occasion to promote school reforms, his anti-lockdown position, and his conservative credentials.

“I’m running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” he declared.

The Florida governor is considered the main rival for former President Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee in the general election 2024.

Mr. DeSantis was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, making him a relative newbie to US politics. After failing to become a senator, he was elected governor of Florida just six years later, in 2018.

He oversaw the passing of well-known laws that ease gun ownership, limit sex and gender identity teaching in schools, and restrict access to abortion.

He has asserted that this “Florida Blueprint” can serve as a blueprint for federal policies, moving the US firmly to the right.

He joins an expanding group of opponents hoping to defeat Mr. Trump, who now leads the Republican field by more than 30 points in national polls.

Thousands of Twitter users had deserted the service by the Wednesday night Twitter conversation got going.

Numerous engineers in charge of the site’s operations and technical debugging have been let go since Mr. Musk assumed control of Twitter in October.

The campaign team for Mr. DeSantis moved swiftly to deflect attention from the technological hiccups, tweeting that the announcement had “broken the internet with so much excitement” and attaching a link to the campaign website.

After a Twitter livestream malfunctioned, Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited debut into the 2024 presidential race was plagued by technological difficulties.

It meant that the Republican presidential primary campaign of the governor of Florida got underway 20 minutes later than planned.

He then used the occasion to promote school reforms, his anti-lockdown position, and his conservative credentials.

“I’m running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” he declared.

The Florida governor is considered the main rival for former President Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee in the general election 2024.

Mr. DeSantis was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, making him a relative newbie to US politics. After failing to become a senator, he was elected governor of Florida just six years later, in 2018.

He oversaw the passing of well-known laws that ease gun ownership, limit sex and gender identity teaching in schools, and restrict access to abortion.

He has asserted that this “Florida Blueprint” can serve as a blueprint for federal policies, moving the US firmly to the right.

He joins an expanding group of opponents hoping to defeat Mr. Trump, who now leads the Republican field by more than 30 points in national polls.

Thousands of Twitter users had deserted the service by the Wednesday night Twitter conversation got going.

Numerous engineers in charge of the site’s operations and technical debugging have been let go since Mr. Musk assumed control of Twitter in October.

The campaign team for Mr. DeSantis moved swiftly to deflect attention from the technological hiccups, tweeting that the announcement had “broken the internet with so much excitement” and attaching a link to the campaign website.

After a Twitter livestream malfunctioned, Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited debut into the 2024 presidential race was plagued by technological difficulties.

It meant that the Republican presidential primary campaign of the governor of Florida got underway 20 minutes later than planned.

He then used the occasion to promote school reforms, his anti-lockdown position, and his conservative credentials.

“I’m running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” he declared.

The Florida governor is considered the main rival for former President Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee in the general election 2024.

Mr. DeSantis was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, making him a relative newbie to US politics. After failing to become a senator, he was elected governor of Florida just six years later, in 2018.

He oversaw the passing of well-known laws that ease gun ownership, limit sex and gender identity teaching in schools, and restrict access to abortion.

He has asserted that this “Florida Blueprint” can serve as a blueprint for federal policies, moving the US firmly to the right.

He joins an expanding group of opponents hoping to defeat Mr. Trump, who now leads the Republican field by more than 30 points in national polls.

Thousands of Twitter users had deserted the service by the Wednesday night Twitter conversation got going.

Numerous engineers in charge of the site’s operations and technical debugging have been let go since Mr. Musk assumed control of Twitter in October.

The campaign team for Mr. DeSantis moved swiftly to deflect attention from the technological hiccups, tweeting that the announcement had “broken the internet with so much excitement” and attaching a link to the campaign website.

According to his press secretary Bryan Griffin, the internet fundraiser raised $1 million (£808,000) in just one hour.

According to statistics from the Reuters news agency, the Twitter event attracted more than 600,000 listeners at one point, but by the time it was over, there were fewer than 300,000. More than three million people listened to the BBC’s interview with Elon Musk last month on Twitter Spaces.

As soon as the debate got going, Mr. DeSantis shifted the topic to his conservative credentials, praising the way he handled the COVID-19 situation in his state—a non-lockdown strategy that many Republicans praised.

He defended the changes he made to the educational system in Florida by claiming that his state “chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder.”

In a later interview with Fox News, Mr. DeSantis gave a more detailed list of promises, including his intention to declare an emergency at the nation’s southern border on his first day in office. Additionally, he promised to remove President Trump’s appointee Christopher Wray as director of the FBI and end President Joe Biden’s “anti-American energy policies.”

In a stylized video he released on Wednesday, Mr. DeSantis said he would run for the Republican presidential nomination. He then registered with the Federal Election Commission.

In the video, he complains, “Our border is a disaster, crime is rampant in our cities, and the president stumbles.” But giving up is a choice; getting what you want is possible, and freedom is worth fighting for.

Mr. Trump and his team bombarded Truth Social, the former president’s social media platform, with emails and posts responding to Mr. DeSantis’s eagerly anticipated entry into the 2024 race.

A short time after the governor promised Mr. Musk he would research the US Constitution to “see what buttons I can push” to exercise presidential authority, Mr. Trump issued a statement explicitly criticizing Mr. DeSantis.

“Rob, my red button is bigger, stronger, and working (TRUTH! ), but yours isn’t,” I said. (as per my chat with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, who will soon become my buddy! ),” Mr. Trump added.

He was behind Mr. Trump by a whopping 38 points in the most recent Morning Consult poll, released last week before Mr. DeSantis’ declaration.

Republican voters will select the candidate who will compete against President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November 2024 general election through a drawn-out primary process beginning early next year.

In addition, a provision that ensures Mr. DeSantis won’t have to vacate the governor’s mansion to run for president was passed during Florida’s most recent legislative session, eliminating a potential “resign-to-run” obstacle for his campaign.

Additionally, Mr. DeSantis will benefit from a sizable war chest. At the end of last month, he had $88 million (£71 million) in a fund from his Florida re-election campaign, which he may utilize for his presidential campaign.

According to reports, he has $30 million under the hands of an independent committee that his associates can use to fund his campaign.

In contrast, Mr. Trump reported raising $18.8 million during the first three months of 2023.

Generra Peck is anticipated to be Mr. DeSantis’ choice for campaign manager. Ms. Peck, Mr. DeSantis’s principal political advisor, oversaw all aspects of the governor’s 2022 re-election campaign and helped him win by almost 20 points.

Additionally, according to information from the Associated Press and the New York Times, staffing has already begun for DeSantis campaign offices in at least 18 states.